Sewing machine



Aug. 30, 1932 F. ASHWORTH SEWING MACHINE Filed Jan. 4, 1930 Z Sha om-Shet l Aug. 30, 1932. F s w SEWING MACHINE Filed Jan. 4, 1950 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 30, 1932 en asrrwon'rrr, orsnvnaiiilrnssieonusnrrs, AssI'e oR so nm rnn snon nra'orrminnvconronnrron, or ra'rnason, iwnwannsnv, a conronarron or NEWJER'SEY=1:

SEWING. MACHINE" 1 Application filed raiiirsr a; 1930- ser1a1m. 11s,545.

V The present invention relates to sewing machines, and ,isherein shownas embodied ina shoe sole sewing machine of the so-called McKay,type,-ithe stitch-forming devices of which comprise a straight ,hook needle,and i the work support of which consists of a rotata'hle horn arrangedto extend within the shoe and provided at itstip. with a needle threadin'g device or whirl .for laying the thread in the hook of the needle. i

a The invention is intended primarilyras an improvement in thestoppingand presse'rfoot lifting devices ofthe McKay shoe sewingmachines disclosed in the'patent to Ber- 1 nard T; Leveque bio-1,738,778dated December 10,1929, and in the'application of Bernard T. LevequeSerial No. 169,203 filed February 18, 192'? although, excepta's defineddllttlle claims, the features, of the invention are not an. limited touse in these. particular machines,- but my. be embodied in other sewing.machines in which means .are provided for dis connecting the needle fromits actuating mechanism andcfor liftingwthe presser-foot uponi stoppi-ngthe machine. V A I Each of the machines (of the'Leveque-pat entandepplication, above referred to, is pro-. vided withmeanswhich isthrown into operation upon-stopping the machine to render iin Ruoperative the connections betweenthe needle and the actuating cam orsewing shaft, so as to cause the needle to-stop at the limitof itsupward stroke. The machine of the patent is also provided withfmechanism acting upon 3 stopping the machine .to lift the presser-lfootfrom the work, and the machine of the Le+ veque application is providedwith an improved and simplified mechanism for accomplishin the sameresult, In both of these machines, in anymachinevprovided'with mechanismfor disconnecting the needle from ltS ZLCtUatil'nQj mechanism and forlifting the pr'esser fOot upon stopping, it is desirable that the needlebe stopped-inits upper posi tion before the'pre'sser-footiis raised in,order 'ing so astoi insure-a delay: in the lifting of that the thread ofthe last stitchmafv erl yfdrawn into the work, and that the work may notbe perforated by the'-need1eafter having been released bythepresser-footff Th? mechanismsof the Leve'que machines wereinj tended toproduce this result, lblil] in operaj tion-and particularly in theoperationof-the simplified,mechanismof the Leveque applicaf tion, it hasbeen found that occasional1yupon stopping, the p'resser-foot willbelifted-hefore thedisconnection of the needle, and as a consequence, thefinal stitch or stitchesjof theseamlarenotproperly formed anda bunch ofthread is formed at the end of thestitc'hing. '-The primary object ofthe present ins 6n 'vention isto improve the mechanism of the Levequeapplication for disconnecting; the needle from its actuating mechanismandliftingthe presser-foot at theendof the, sewthe presser-foot' until.after the needle has, as been hrouglit'to rest Q Other objects ofinvention'are to improve theconstruction', arrangementand-mode ofoperation: of the various parts of mechanisms which may be utilized indisconnecting the needle of a sews ing machine from its actuatingmechanism, and for, raisingthe presser-foot-upon stops ping the machine;p

\With the aboveobj ects in view, the present 215 invention consists intheconstructions, com bin-ations, and arrangements of parts herein.-after described and claimed, the advantages of whichwill be obvious tothose: skilled in theart from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying draw; ings in which Fig. '1 is a:viewin front eleva tion of the headof alock-stitch McKay type a shoesewing machine; Fig. 253,3 detailview insidelevation of a portion of themecha- 33-? nism shown in' Fig. 1, illustrating particularly themechanism for lifting the press'erg foot and for controlling itsactionfrom the needle disconnecting mechanism; and FigQ-B is a detailsectional viewtaken' onthe 1ine3 L of Fig. 2, and showing in dot anddash lines the latch actuating arm of the needle disconnectlngmechanism.

Except as hereinafter described, the machine illustrated in the drawingsis the same in the construction, arrangement and mode of operation ofits various parts as the mafchine disclosed in the application ofBernard T. Leveque hereinbefore referred to. The main cam shaft or, asit may conveniently be termed,.sewing shaft, is indicated at '4, and isdriven from a motorin the base of themachine through a clutch which iscontrolled from a starting and stoppingtreadle, as in the machine of theLeveque application, and also as in the machine of the Leveque patentaThe straight hook needle of the machine is in di cated at 6 and issecured to the lower end of the needle bar 8 mounted to reciprocatevershaft 4 through connections which include the twoilevers 10 and12,'which levers are pivotally mounted concentrically with each other atone end, and at their other ends are adapted to be connected together bya latch 14 pivotally mounted upon the lever 12 and arrangjed to engagea. pin 16 on the lever 10. The lever 10 is provided midway its lengthwith a curved slot 18 which is engaged by a crank pin2O on the forwardend of the sewingfshaft'4, and the lever 12 is connected by means ofalink 22 to a block 24 clamped to the needle bar 8. The-levers 10 and 12are connected by a coiled spring 26 at the pivotal axis of the levers,which spring tends to hold the levers in the position indicated inFigure '1 with the blocks 28 and 30 on the levers abutting and with thepin 16 in position to be en-,

gaged by the latch'14. The construction and arrangement of the levers 10and 12 and of the latch 14 and pin 16' are the same as in both of theLeveque machines hereinbefore re ferred to, and provides a simple andeflicient mechanism for actuating the needle from the sewing-shaft whilepermitting the needle to be disconnected from the sewing shaft by anactuation of the latch 14 to release the pin 16.

Upon stopping the machine, the needle is disconnected from the sewingcam shaft as the needle bar reaches the top of its stroke, and in orderto accomplish this result, a slotted arm 32 is provided, the slot 34 inwhich engages apin 36 secured to the lever 12, concentric with the pivotof the latch 14.' The upper end of the slot 34 extends laterally to theright,as viewed in Figures 1 and 3, and the arrangement is such that asthe needle bar reaches the limit of its upward movement, the pin 36comes in line with this laterally extending. portion of the slot. Withthe parts in this position, a lateral movement of the upper end of thelever 32 to the left, as viewed in Figure 1, is permitted,,and suchmovement bringsa pin 38 in the upper end of be pressed yieldinglytowards the right, as

viewed in Figure 1, and thus prevent actuation of the arm to disconnectthe needle from the sewing shaft during the sewin of a seam, the arm isrigidly connected to t e forward "end of a rock shaft 44, the rear endof which is provided with an arm 46 connected by a link48'. to an arm 50loosely mounted upon a shaft 52 and connected thereto by a coiled spring54.- Through the connections d e' scribed,'the spring 54 acts to holdthe arm 32 yieldingly toward the right while themachine is in operation.To render inoperative the actuating connections between the sewing shaftand the needle bar, and thereby disconnect the needle from the shaft,connections are provided, as in the machines of the Leveque patent andapplication, through which the arm 32 is moved to the left to disconnectthe latch 14 from the pin 16' when the starting and stopping treadle isactuated to stop the machine. These connections comprise an arm 56 fastto the shaft 52, a rod 58 connecting this arm to the starting andstopping treadle, a lug 59 projecting laterally from the arm 56 beneatha rearward eXtension 61 of the arm 50, and a heavy spring, not shown inthe drawings, surrounding the shaft 52 and tending to turn the shaft ina clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 2. With this constructiomwhenthe starting and stopping treadle is permitted to rise, the lug 59 onthearm 56 engages the extension 61 on the arm 50, and the heavy springabove referred to acting through the shaft, 52- and arm 50, exertsapressure on the arm 32' which holds the right hand side of the slot 34,as viewed in Figure 1, against the pin 36 on the lever 12. As soon asthe pin reaches the-up per portion of the slot 34 therefor the arm 32 Vwill be moved to the left, as viewed in Figure 1, the pin 36 enteringthe horizontal portion of the slot and thereby locking the needle at thelimit of its upward stroke and the pin 38 engaging the tail 40 of thelatch 14, and disengagingthe latch from the pin 16 on the lever 10 whichisv permitted to continue in its movement during the continued rotationof arm as the pin 36 moves up and down'in the slot during the operationof the machine in sewing a seam. In the present construction, the arm 32is utilized merely to disengage the latch 14 from the pin 16, anadditional arm'33 being provided for actuat ing the work feedingdevicepwhich arm is loosely mounted upon the shaft 44: and provided witha suitably shaped slot engaged by the pin 36 on the lever 12. i v 1 Thepresser-foot of the machine is indi- V at 60, and is secured to a block62 fast on the lower end of a vertically movable member is similar tothe corresponding presser-foot lifting member of the mechanismdisclosedin the Leveque application. This'member is supported from thesewing shaft 4 and hangs vertically from the shaft, its upper end beingformed as an eccentric strap surrounding an eccentric 68 on the shaft,from which a constant vertical recip rocation is imparted to the memberwhile the sewing machineis in operation. At'its lower end, thisresser-foot lifting. member is provided with a projection 70 which isadapted to engage a lug 71 projecting laterally from an'arm 72 fast onthe rock shaft 74. The rock shaft 74 is provided at its forward end withthe arm 7 6 connected by a link 78 to the block 62 at the lower end ofthe presser-foot bar 64 and the arrangement of the arms 72 and 76 issuch that an up ward movement of the arm 72 produces'a correspondingmovement of the arm 76 and lifts the presser-foot from the work. WVhilethe machine is in operation, the presser foot lifting member 66 is heldin a position in which the lug 71 is out ofthe path of movementof theprojection 70. During the stopping of the machine, however, the presserfoot lifting member is moved into the position'indicated in Figure 3,and during its upward movement acts torock the shaft 74 by theengagement of the projection 7 O with the lug 71, and lift thepresser-foot.

, After'the presser-foot is raised, the sewing shaft 4 continues torotate through one or more revolutions, and in order to retain thepresser-foot in its raisedposition, a retaining member in the form of alatch is provided arranged to engage a lug project ing laterally fromthe arm 72 in the opposite direction from the lug7 1. This retainingmember is similar to the corresponding re? taining member of the amechanism disclosed in" the Levequeapplicationand is indicated,

at 80;" This retaining-member isfsupported in a vertical position fromthe sewing shaft L at the side of theipresser foot lifting memi her, andis provided at its lower end with a projection 82 adapted to engage alug on the arm' 72. .Tlie-retaining member 80 has no vertical movementbut is arranged to swing about the shaft 4 of t-he'piv'ot to move itsprojection 82 into and out of. a position to engagethelug on the arm72-. v a

- After the needle has been disconnected from the sewing shaft and afterthe press'erfoot has been lifted and the rotation of: the

sewing shaft hasstoppedflheparts are inthe relative positions indicatedinFigureB; In

starting the machine again intooperation,:it is necessary to move the'retaining. latch out of engagement with the arm 72 to' permit thepressor-foot to drop upon-the work, and it'is also necessary tomove the2presser-foot lifting member66'to aposition in which. the lug liftingmemberduring its reciprocation. In the construction disclosed in theLeveque ap plication, boththe presser-foot lifting mem her and theretaining member are controlled during the starting of themachine by anarm corresponding to thearmindicated at 84 fast upon the rock shaft 52.Also, in themechanism disclosed in the Leveque application, the armcorresponding torthe'arm indicated at 84tis utilized to control themovementsv of both the presser-footlifting member and theretainingmember in stopping vWVith this construction, 1t was sometimesfound. tobe dif- 71 on the arm 72 will not be engagedby the ficult,ifnot impossible, to assemble the. parts or to adjust them after beingassembled'so as to insure during the stopping .of the ma.- chine,thedisconnection ofthe needle from the sewing shaft by the movement ofthe arm 32 before the presser-foot lifting and retainitsing-membe'rswere allowed to move into a po- 7 sitien tograise and retainthepresser-foot. This defect in the operation; of the machine of theLeveque application becomes more. ap parent as the parts become worn-ordisarranged in use, -Toxovercome this. defect, the

presentconstruction"utilizes'the arm 84" to control the position of theretaining latch member 80 only and provides a separate direct connectionfrom the latch operating arm 32 to the presser-foot lifting member 66-so that the resser-foot lifting member is directly controlled from thearmwhich acts to disconnect the needle from the sewing shaft, and

any possibility of the raisingof the presserfoot taking place beforethej disconnect-ion of the needle'is absolutely prevented regardless ofslight inaccuraciesin assembling the various parts or ofwvear or looseness in the 7 connections through which the arm for disconnecting theneedle is actuated. A s illIlS-J trated in drawings, the arm Ston shaft52 is arranged as in the mechanism of the Levcque application, to'engagea cam '7 2 to permit the presser-foot to drop upon the work before theneedle is connected to its actuating mechanism, and during the movementof theshaft 52 in the reverse direction in stopping the machine, theretaining latch 8(l-is allowed to move into a position to retain the arm7 2' as soon as it is raised by the lifting member 66. To control theposition of thelifting member 66,however, an arm 86 is rigidly securedtothe rock shaft 44 carrying' the arm 32 and is connected by a rod 88 tothe lower end of the lifting member 66, the rod being pivotallyconnected at one end to the lower end of the lifting members 66 and atits other-end passing transversely through the projecting end of a pinv9O rotatably mounted in the lower end of the arm-86. To providea-yielding engagement of the lifting member with the lug 71 on the lever7 2 and insure the properengagement of the lug with the lug 71, a spring92 is coiled around the rod 88 and is interposed between the pin '90 anda shoulder near its pivotal connection with the lifting member. Toinsure a positive Withdrawal of the presser-foot lifting member to aposition where its lug 70 cannot engage the lug 71, a cross pin 94 ismounted in the end of the rod 88 in position to be engaged by the pin 90when the arm 86 is actuated to mov7e the lifting member away from thelu 1. v

Iftsa convenient means cooperating with the arm 84 to control theposition of the presser-foot retaining member 80, a rod 96 is pivotallyconnected to the lower end of the member and passes through the end ofthe pin on the opposite side of the arm 86 from the pin 88, which rod96' forms a support for a spring98 coiled around the rod and interposedbetween the pin 90' and a shoulder near the pivoted end of the rod. 7

The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and anembodiment of the invention having been specifically described, what isclaimed is:

1. 1A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch-forming devicesincluding a needle, a presser-foot, a sewing shaft, actuatingconnections between said shaft and needle, a treadle controlled memberfor rendering said connections inoperative, and presserfoot'li'fting'mechanism controlled directly by said member to lift the presser-footonly after said connections have been rendered inoperative. v I

2. A sewing machine having, in combination,"stitch-'forming devicesincluding a needle, a p'resser-foot, a sewingshaft, actuatingconnections between said shaft-and need-1e, a treadle controlled memberfo rqrendering said connections inoperative, press-er-foot liftingmechanism, and means actuated..di; rectlyby said member to rendersaidconnectionsinop-erative, and thereafter to causesaid presser-footlifting mechanism to lift the Presser-foot.)

3., A sewing. machine-"having, incombi nation,stitch-forming'sdevices,including .a- -neeidle, a presser-foot,.asewing'shaft, actuating connections between said shaftandneedleineluding two members and aconnecting latch, a latch actuating armmovable to-actuate the latch to render saidconnections inoperative,

a resser-foot lifting mechanism Iincludinga 1 reciprocating presser-footlifting device dri ven continuously by the sewing shaft ian djaa memberadapted tobe engaged by 'said device to lift the pr'esser-foot, and-adirect con nection from said arm to the presser fo'ot lifting device formoving the llfting device into engagement with said member to causepresser-foot lifting'mechanism including a reciprocating pr'esser-footlifting device driven continuously by the sewin'g sh'af-t, and-:a memberconnected to the resser-foot adapted to b-e'enga-ged by said device tolift the presser-foot, a latch arranged to engagesaid member and holdthe presse'nfootraised during the continued rotation jof the sewingshaft, a'treadle controlled member for rendering the connectionsbetween-the sewing shaft and needleinoperative, adir'e'c t-eo'nnectionbetweei'i-said'treadle controlled 'memher and the presser-fo'ot liftingdevice for moving the lifting device into -engagement with the memberconnected to the presserfoot to cause the presser-foot to be liftedafter the connections between the sewing shaft and needle have. beenrendered inoperative, and treadle actuated means for actuatingthe-la'tch to release the Presser-foot. 5 5. A sewing machine having, incombination, stitch-forming devices including'alneedie, a pressenfoot, asewing shaft, actuating connections between said shaftand'ne'ed leincluding ,two' members and a' connecting latch, a latch 'actuating armmovable to actuate the latch to render said connections-in operative, aPresser-foot lifting mechanism including a reciprocating presser 'fo'o'tlifting device driven continuously by the sewing shaft, and a memberconnected'to the presser-foot adapted to be engaged by said device tolift the presser-foot, an arm rigid with the latch actuating arm,aicon'nection from'said last mentioned arm to'the presserfoot liftingdevice for moving the main-gutll-l0 vice into engagement with the memberconnected to the presser-foot to cause the presserfoot to be liftedafter the connections between the sewing shaft and needle have beenrendered inoperative, and means for retaining the resser-foot in theposition to which it" is lifted during the continued rotation of thesewing shaft.

In testimony whereof I have signedmy name to this specification.

FRED ASHWORTH.

